Character Arcs

Character arcs are important. That’s something which basically every bit of writing advice will tell you. Yet, which character can or should have a character arc? Which character absolutely needs one and for which character would it be a waste of time? Let’s find out.

Generally speaking, the main character, the protagonist, the hero, should always have a character arc.
Always? Okay, superhero comics and pulp stories usually get away with not giving them an arc, mostly because everything is set back to zero at the end of every story — that goes for deaths, romantic developments, and also all other kinds of character arcs. It’s not that it is forbidden, it’s more that it’s not considered necessary. Pulp and comic-book heroes usually are developed enough for their adventures and don’t need to find new skills or associates to master them. Hence, there is no need for character development. It could be there — and, sometimes, it is —, but it’s not necessary to make the story work.
Classic character arcs for the hero are usually upward arcs — arcs that make the character a better person. They can include — but are not limited to — overcoming fears and other flaws (such as more undesirable character traits), building a new relationship, or developing a new skill. Romance arcs, for instance, are usually all about building a relationship and can include overcoming a flaw so the relationship has a future.

Love interests are another group of characters who often do get a character arc — also an upward one which makes them ‘better people’ in the long run. This is especially true if the love interest is male and falls into the ‘brooding’ category.
A full character arc for the love interest, though, is more likely in a romance-based story and less likely if there’s just a romantic sub-plot somewhere. In the romantic sub-plot, the main plot often provides the reason for the couple to get together in the end, even if it might feel ‘unearned’ from the protagonists side.
What should be avoided is turning the female love interest from a confident and able woman into a helpless damsel, just so the male main character can save her and ‘win’ her that way. There are other, better ways to bring two people together than making one the passive trophy to be ‘won’ by the other.

The last big group of characters who might get a character arc are — the villains! Yes, villains can have two different types of character arcs.
More commonly known is the redemption arc in which the villain stops being a villain and becomes one of the good people instead. Good redemption arcs are hard to do, though, and quite often they include the death of the villain — after doing something for Team Good (think of Darth Vader, for instance). Others take the longer, harder route and give us a full redemption with the villain turning hero (a great example would be Prince Zuko from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”).
What if the villain is not supposed to be redeemed? No arc at all then? No, for this case, there’s still a possible character arc — a downward one. A downward arc is the opposite of the upward one — instead of making the character a better person, it makes the character a worse person. The character commits more and more atrocities and proves themselves to be someone who can only be vanquished — and possibly killed — and never redeemed.

In addition to these three groups of characters — hero, love interest, and villain — some other characters might get a character arc of some kind. The most common two would be the sidekick and the mentor.
A sidekick could come into their own over the course of a story — which would set them up as a possible main character in the sequel — or at least lose a bad trait or gain a good one. Their arc usually isn’t as strong as that of the main character, but it might still be there and enrich the story.
Even though the mentor is normally the one giving life lessons, some of them still have something to learn. “Kung Fu Panda” has mentor Shifu learn that sometimes his regular methods of teaching might fail while different ones might yield results when he finds out that food is a good motivation for his new student to give his best. Shifu goes with it and thus trains the new Dragon Warrior successfully.

Character arcs are often referred to as ‘internal arcs’ in opposition to the main story arc which is usually an ‘external arc.’ This simply refers to whether or not the arc is mostly driven by visible action. Taking the One Ring to Mordor is an external action and this is the main arc of “Lord of the Rings” whereas Frodo’s development as carrier of the ring is mostly internal as the One Ring influences his character.
A story needs an external arc so there is something happening, so there’s tension and stakes. It might or might not have an internal arc for any and all of the main characters. Even romance stories need that external arc, which is often about overcoming an obstacle on the way to the ‘happily ever after.’

Character arcs are important for main characters like hero, villain, and love interest. All of them can profit from a good character arc that makes them visibly grow in some way (even if it might be growing worse in case of the villain). Some other characters might profit from a character arc as well. That doesn’t mean that ‘henchman 275’ or that merchant who sells the hero some provisions also need a character arc. Before you give someone a character arc, ask yourself whether it will enrich the story or not. If it does, put it in. If it doesn’t, leave it out.